PremiumExclusive! Dhyan Sreenivasan: We weren’t sure whether Udal would work till we saw Indrans chettan’s look
The survival thriller, which also has Durga Krishna, is set to hit theatres on May 20
Last Updated: 02.03 PM, May 18, 2022
Actor-director Dhyan Sreenivasan has built a reputation lately of calling a spade a spade. Be it saying that he found his own directorial boring or calling out the flaws in his brother Vineeth Sreenivasan’s works, the actor doesn’t mince words. For his upcoming release Udal too, he says that wasn’t initially sure whether the content would work.
In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, Dhyan says that he took up the project right after the second lockdown as there was a dearth of films happening. “Back then there were still lockdown restrictions and Sunday crew. The entire industry was on a standstill and so, it was important that movies happened,” says the actor.
That’s when Udal’s director Ratheesh Reghunandan approached Dhyan with the thought of doing a small film in a limited budget for OTTs. “We didn’t the permission to shoot outdoors and so Ratheesh said let’s do a thriller that is set inside a house,” said Dhyan.
Ratheesh had suggested Indrans’ name to play one of its three characters along with Dhyan. “Indrans chettan’s #Home hadn’t released then and there were so many factors that made us unsure whether this film work. There were a lot of dark thrillers available on OTTs, how will the artistes’ performances be and how different could Udal be the ones that are available?” says Dhyan. “But we gained confidence once we saw Indrans chettan’s look in the film. It also helped that the movie had a gripping story. While watching the footage during the shoot, we knew that this was coming out way better than we had expected.”
By the time the team had completed the film’s post production, it also coincided with theatres reopening and movies such as Dulquer Salmaan’s Kurup hitting cinema halls. That’s when they decided to hold a preview screening, says Dhyan.
“The response we got after the previews was that it didn’t feel like a movie that was shot under restrictions. It felt like a big film and had possibilities to offer a theatrical experience to the audience,” says Dhyan. “So, by January 2022, based on the audience’s feedback, Gokulam Productions came onboard and that’s how we decided to release it in theatres.” Udal is set to release in theatres on May 20.